Hi everone,

I started my low carb diet on Jan 5 (Monday) and I think I hit ketosis around Wednesday. Some weird stuff though.

For one, my appetite is almost totally gone. I'm the kinda guy that doesn't get full and can literally eat all day, but I'm finding myself eating just a small piece of sausage and one egg for breakfast just to get something in me. Yesterday for lunch, around noon, I went to Ryan's Buffet (an all-you-can eat buffet in Waco), and pigged... but ate right. I had two small pork steaks, one grilled chicken breast, some fajita meat, and a salad with ham, turkey, and small amount of ranch. Plus like 4 glasses of water. I haven't been hungry since, which is odd for me.

Something else that's very atypical for me is a total lack of energy. It's almost to a point of depression, which I never have. Last night I got home and crashed in bed with a book at 6:30 and was asleep by probably 7pm. Woke-up this morning at 8:00am - GEEZ! 12 1/2 hours! I'm the kinda guy that's lucky if I get 7 hours of sleep. Another side effect of ketosis?

But I'm sticking with it. Tons of meats, plus a salad a day (2 cups lettuce) with 3-4 tablespoons of ranch (under 1 carb per tablespoon on ranch), plus a half-cup of some veggie (green beens, baked eggplant, boiled okra, etc). I'm also getting 6-8 or more fills of water (16 oz bottles or glasses). I've cut-out caffeine and and aspartame, which could be one cause of the lack of energy.

Any suggestions? I feel fine other then the mental drain and loss of appetite. I've also got some of those Atkins bars and shakes, but I'm trying to steer clear of those for now since most folks say not to use them during induction.

As for exercise, I'm trying to do 4 miles a week, whether it's 1 mile 4 times a week, 2 miles twice a week, whatever. It's a good start on the treadmill since I haven't used it in a while. This last week I only got in 2 miles, but I'll get it back to 4 next week.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions. I'm trying to follow this, and thus far I've lost about 5 pounds. My scale at home isn't the most accurate, but I'll start weighing at work Monday and keep a log based on both.

Take care,

Sam

samalex - What you're experiencing is very normal. When I first began I felt like crap the first week, low energy, etc....lots of people do. You'll get past it, I promise.
It's also not unusual to feel full often. It was the carbs that made you hungry and now you're filling up on fat and protein.
Stick with it; you're doing fine and as you see the weight come off, you'll know it has been worth it!

Hey, Sam!

Three thing I can think of, off the top of my head--

1. Yes, induction CAN be an energy drain. Give yourself a couple more days, sleep it off, and see how you feel.

2. Are you supplementing at all? You need to at LEAST be getting in a multivitamin every day. I highly recommend Atkins Nutra-Packs. They come pre-packaged with about 7 or 8 different types of vitamins in one convenient little pack. You take them all, then you're good to go all day!

3. Check your protein consumption. You should be getting AT LEAST 150g of protein a day, even more if you're exercising!

Hi.

Thanks for the replies. I knew the induction period would probably make me feel like poo, and I know it'll be worth it in the long run. I'll visit our local Drug Emporium and see if they have that vitamine multi-pack. I just read a thread with folks saying they take 15-20 pills a day. YIKEs! I'm generally one that hates meds unless the doc says they're a must... but I'll try this multipack and see if it helps. Thanks for that suggestion.

As for protein, I assume I'm getting my fill of what's needed. I'm eating a good amount of meats each day, and a small amount of veggies. The meats are like pork steaks, sausage, bacon, chick breasts, etc. Generally I eat two or three helpings instead of just one. I've also found the Atkins BBQ sauce which is great... it's low actual carbs (not net), so that helps since I'm a ketchup fanatic

But thanks for the works of encouragement. I've already dropped around 5 pounds, so I know it's working.

Take care,

Sam

Hey Sam, try the supplements but you may find you don't need all of them. All I take is the Atkins Basic 3--3 of them a day (which is the recommended amount) and I've done fine. Your energy will return, better than ever more than likely. Keep up the great work!

Along with the multi vitamin I would recomend getting calcium, magnesium (they can sometimes be found together in one pill) and potassium (these are very small pills, promise)

The energy will come back. One very important thing is to make sur eyou are eating enough calories to support your needs. While you may have less an appatite you still need to eat a minimum amount of calories to have the energy you need, as well as for your body to have the energy to perform menial tasks like cellular transport and repair work.

I re-started on 12/29 and hit ketosis on or about 1/1. I had energy and now that I am rapidly losing and in deep ketosis I feel weak and thankfully my appetite has diminished too. I also feel dehydrated despite drinking so much water so I have started to take 1 tab of potassium each morning and slightly upped my protein from what I was consuming last few days but I am more weaker than ever. Good thing is that I am losing about 1/2 lb a day.

Withdrawal symptoms from carbs are very similar to withdrawal symptoms from caffeine. The body is not accustomed to so few carbs.

But, make sure that you are eating a balanced low carb diet. Do not make a "diet" out of this way of eating. While on induction, I always made sure that I ate nutrient packed low carb veggies. When choosing lettuce skip the ice berg ( nothing to it but water ). Romaine is a more nutritious choice. Add colorful low carb vegetables like red, orange or yellow bell peppers, radishes etc. I was raised on Southern cooking so it was easy for me to add cooked greens such as mustard, turnip and collards. I like to cook turnip greens with the turnip roots. I also like to pan fry my greens in a little bacon grease and olive oil and then add some water or chicken broth. Mushrooms is anothother way to add protein to your diet. I have never used ketosis as part of my diet. I can tell that I am in ketosis but I do not use it as a gage for weightloss. I continue to have an appetite but the hunger is a more kinder/gentler hunger pang. I eat 3xs a day and I eat until I am comfortable. I rarely go back for seconds. By lowering your carbs it is like taking control of your appetite which results in the control of portions etc. I take mag/calcium supplements. I also take 3-4 potassium supplements daily. That really helps with the energy issue.

Your mind will feel a tad foggy so take your time driving to work. Leave earlier than usual. You may need to write a list of tasks for the day so that you do not forget anything.

I think it is what happens when you switch from being highly charged with glucose all the time. It will pass though. Probably lots of people would do better going on Atkins slowly, just reducing their carbs for a few weeks. I've talked to a lot of people that went on Atkins and cold-turkey on carbs and felt so weird they thought for sure they were getting ill, so they quit. You'll probably start feeling a lot better soon.

In fact, one of the things I like about low-carb is I don't get the after-lunch sleepies.

As far as lack of appetite, well that's definitely one of the good things about low carb. You don't feel like noshing all the time. I haven't been trying to restrict my calories at all really, my goal was to eat 1600-1700 a day. I just started monitoring my calories and was surprised to find them at 1300-1400 and that's not even trying!

As far as vitamins, I think get a simple multi-vitamin that covers 100% of the RDA. I'm not a believer in mega-dosing, I think you can do yourself harm that way. Vitamins don't give you energy.

Hello , just wanted to say i started on the same day and i'm also feeling tired, (usually go bed at 1am) but a couple of nights it's been 9pm!!
I didn't link this with atkins, and in a previous post said i feel no differant but maybe i am expieriancing atkins side effects? Also a very dry mouth when i wake up and drinking (going toilet) Loads more then usual,
I am not sure how i tell i'm in kestosis yet? , i am going to buy some strips soon.
GOOD LUCK!! i've not weighed myself yet... i don't feel like i've lost anything but hoping for maybe 1 or 2 lbs lose........ I can see 2004 being a great year for us all!!
Tracey xxx

The side effects vary by person. The first time when doing induction I always had the dry mouth. No matter how much water I would drink, it seemed like my mouth got more dry. I had the opposite effect when it came to sleep. I found myself sleeping less and less. However, lately since I went back to a more strict low-carb I find myself sleeping around 9 or 10 hours a night.....up from 6 or 7. So I feel your pain there Just keep up the good work and give it 30 days before making any rash decisions about whether this plan is right for you, I promise you will like the results